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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29011908">in from the cold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgettheghosts/pseuds/forgettheghosts'>forgettheghosts</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>jedi maul au [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Typical Abuse, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:41:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,673</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29011908</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgettheghosts/pseuds/forgettheghosts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shaak Ti finds a young Zabrak on the lower levels of Coruscant</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>jedi maul au [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2128323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in from the cold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>in the Legends novels, Sidious occasionally kept Maul on Coruscant instead of Mustafar. What if the Jedi found him there?<br/>ft. oc Dathomirian Jedi and my headcanons<br/>Canon typical child abuse, xenophobia</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Maul knelt in the centre of his cell. Well, the Jedi who had captured him had called it a cell; Maul thought that the Jedi needed to be informed as to what a cell actually was. A cell was meant to be too small to lay down or stand upright in, and either freezing cold or broiling hot, somewhere where disobedient children were restrained and punished until they understood their errors. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cells didn’t have windows, nor did they have a cot with a blanket. Being in a cell did not involve being fed food that was free of insects or being allowed to sleep through the night- not that Maul had eaten food from his enemies or slept while captured. He was no fool; to become complacent in physical comfort was the first step in becoming a failure and being cast aside. Maul had no intention of being cast aside. When his Master reclaimed him, he would see that Maul had been a faithful and obedient pupil, even when away from his Master’s watchful eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was only one guard outside his cell, which he would have taken as an insult if he were anywhere but the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, surrounded by the full force of his enemies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His captor came to his cell each day. The Torgruta spoke to him as though he was weak and in need of coddling; presumably she thought he would lower his guard that way. She was wrong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am Shaak Ti.” She had introduced herself. “May I know your name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul simply growled slightly, holding eye contact. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You will not be harmed here, child. The Jedi pride ourselves in our ability to care for young force-sensitives, such as yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul had heard of the ‘care’ the Jedi provided. Indoctrinating younglings into their ways of hypocrisy and weakness. The kind of soft upbringing that would allow Maul’s Master to defeat the Jedi when the time came for the Sith to rise again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been at least five rotations since he had been placed in the cell, though he did not know how long he had been unconscious after being captured. The blaster wound that had caused his incapacitation on the lower levels, leading to his capture, had been healed. So had several injuries from his training; his shoulder no longer ached from its last dislocation, and his left foremost horn had already begun growing back. The aftertaste of bacta told him how the injuries had been healed, but not why. Even for the soft Jedi, going so far as to heal a captive’s injuries seemed foolishly wasteful. However weak, surely such a ancient order could not have lasted so long with such practices? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He resolved to watch and wait, until he either understood what the Jedi’s goals were, or an opportunity to escape arose. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Shaak Ti left the young Zabrak with what she would admit to be a slight amount of frustration. He was clearly no ordinary child; his skills in combat had been notable, despite the wound that had caused him to collapse down in section 379H of Coruscant. It had only been due to his injury that she was able to incapacitate him so easily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Darkness that emanated from him was undeniable. Her montrails had twitched with the electric feeling of the Dark Side coming from the small boy. But he was just that- a boy. Strong in both the force and martial prowess, but clearly young, barely adolescent. She was no stranger to the cruelties that could be inflicted on children, especially on the Outer Rim worlds with no supervision of governments nor anti slavery laws. Such a upbringing, if indeed slavery was what the boy had endured and how he had been brought to the lower levels of Coruscant, would plant the seeds of darkness early. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shaak Ti made her way into the Archives, seeking out one Knight in particular. She found him surrounded by young initiates, leading a lesson on proper use of data padds in the Archives. She waited patiently for him to finish, smiling to herself at the questions the younglings asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Knight Talon was one of many knights who worked in the Archives. He could often be found in either the Outer Rim Force Tradition section or the Introductory Outer Rim Languages section. He was also the only Dathomirian Jedi she knew of, one of the few ex-pats of the shadowy world she had ever encountered. His complex black tattoos and sharp horns belied a gentle Knight who had once petitioned the council for fewer missions in the field and more time spent conducting research and teaching lessons in the Archives. She hoped that a more familiar face than her own may entice her newfound charge to speak. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The young Knight dismissed the younglings, who quickly scattered to find their next lessons. Shaak Ti approached, and Talon straightened as he noticed her approach. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master Ti,” He said, nodding respectfully. “Is there something I may help you with?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is my hope that you can, yes.” Shaak said. She explained her encounter with the young Dathomirian boy on the lower levels, where she had found him facing off against several Hutt enforcers, and his continuing silence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand that Dathomir is a rather insular world. I thought he may be more likely to speak to a member of his own species, if you don’t mind.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course. So few Nightbrothers escape Dathomir, I will help this one however I can.” Talon responded, and followed at Shaak Ti’s side as she began to walk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“By your phrasing, I assume the more unsavoury rumours regarding Dathomir have some merit to them?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Talon huffed lightly. “Not the ones about eating our young, no. But the Dark Side is strong there; I theorize that the pain inflicted by the Nightsisters helps the Dark Side thrive, and in turn they draw on it for their Magiks. I have only vague memories of my home planet, as my sire escaped to Rattatak when I was a child and we hid among the descendents of Nightbrothers there. It’s likely that the Nightbrother you’ve encountered was from Rattatak also; most Brothers there are enslaved, though they cohabitate with the Freed regularly. He may have been sold or taken from his family there.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rattatak- at the edge of the Unknown Regions?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. Escaped Nightbrothers typically move farther away from the Core, not closer to it. Though on a planet so far out, the deeper parts of the Unknown Regions are more familiar than any part of the Republic.” Talon said. “To even call it ‘Unknown’ is more indicative of Core bias than the actual status of most of the planets. It simply means they are mostly unaffiliated with any larger alliance. Systems are largely self-contained, outside of the movement of slaves and bounty hunters.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are knowledgeable about the situation outside the Outer Rim, I see.” Shaak Ti said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Talon smiled timidly. “Yes. Well, I try to be. My current thesis is in regards to forms of Force practice on Parnassos. One of my close creche-mates is in the Exploration Corps, and she has sent me her preliminary notes; she is better suited to research, I write down her accounts.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I shall have to read your report, when it is finished.” Shaak Ti replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would be honoured, Master.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They made their way to the holding cell where the boy had been brought. Shaak had arranged for him to be kept in one of the rooms intended for those who suffered Force-related afflictions and required constant monitoring. He could not be left alone, certainly, but she did not want to place a child in a holding cell unless she had no other choice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, young Brother.” Talon greeted the child as they entered the hall outside the three walled room. “I am Knight Talon, of clan Starstrike.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy did not reply, did not move from where he crouched in the corner of the room. HIs golden eyes watched Talon carefully, tracked him as one would a predator in the wilds. His tiny body was tense, ready to strike out in defense. Shaak Ti ached at the thought of one so young being so afraid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Talon spoke again in what Shaak Ti recognized as Sy Bisti, a trade language more prevalent than Basic in the Unknown Regions. The boy still did not respond. Talon spoke again in a language that Shaak ti did not know, then finally in Meese Caulf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy did not even twitch, simply staring at the other Zabrak like he could attack at any moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will continue in Basic, then, if you have no preference.” Talon said. “Your tattoos indicate that your sire was descended from the warriors of Howling Mountain. Is that where your family came from?” He asked. “Are you from Rattatak? Or perhaps a settlement I do not know. You don’t have to give away the location, if that is your concern.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy curled a lip in a snarl, and finally spoke. “I am not some Wild Space </span>
  <em>
    <span>animal.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Talon blinked in surprise, the only sign that he was surprised. He glanced quickly to Shaak Ti, and she sent him a wave of encouragement in the Force. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Jedi do not judge based on one’s home planet. There’s no need to be afraid of that.” Talon replied. “My presence is proof enough of that. I am from Rattatak, myself. My family lived among the Freed there, as many Nightbrothers do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy’s hand flexed. “I have been elevated above the baser nature of my species.” He said. It sounded like a phrase he had memorized, repeated like a learned line. “I am not an uncivilized savage.” The boy nodded to himself, like he was assuring himself he had spoken correctly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Next to Shaak Ti, Talon drew a breath. “I see.” He said. “You must have a name, then. Being civilized.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy’s eyes flicked from Talon to Shaak Ti and back. Eventually, he spoke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am Maul.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
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